


a gentle melody

by skyelights



Category: Persona 4
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Fluff, M/M, Music, Short & Sweet, i had the sudden urge to Write and this is the product of that, lowercase intentional, the yukichie is implied, this is literally just fluff bc that's all i can do
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-18
Updated: 2019-11-18
Packaged: 2021-02-08 12:56:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21476377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skyelights/pseuds/skyelights
Summary: you can hear what your soulmate is listening to - the closer you are, the louder it gets.yosuke finds himself in the company of a soothing piano every evening.
Relationships: Hanamura Yosuke/Narukami Yu, Hanamura Yosuke/Seta Souji
Comments: 10
Kudos: 200





	a gentle melody

in the stillness of another wintry evening, yosuke hanamura finds a familiar piano refrain softly playing in his head.

it's not familiar in the sense of the word, really, he doesn't even know the name of the piece or composer. and for all he knows of music, of its various elements and techniques, classical music was out of his realm of expertise.

it was familiar because he hears it nearly every evening, never of his own accord.

(it's not his style, but he didn't particularly dislike it.)

there was this saying, told to him by his mother, that you could hear what music your soulmate was listening to. yosuke had thought it silly, then - he'd never really heard much of anything, until he was thirteen, and the music started.

it was always a gentle melody, never alarming in its arrival. sometimes it'd change, a different piece or a different instrument, but always soothing.

it was easy to imagine a girl at her piano, delicate fingers gliding across the keys as she played, or more likely her leaning over a desk, the same soft tune playing out of a phone as she worked diligently at her homework.

(he supposed he could get behind this whole soulmate business, after all.)

it became an issue when his father was set to become a manager of a new junes location, out in the middle of nowhere, and the music was reduced to a whisper.

he didn't have to do much thinking to realize that he was much further from his soulmate, now. it was distressing, really - it seems everything remotely valuable to him was left behind in the city. his friends, his soulmate, basically his life, huh?

as if he needed any more reason to resent this damn town.

from then on, he'd always play his music a little louder - both to drown himself in the noise to try and flush out the overwhelming boredom, and, a little hopefully, to tell his soulmate _"i'm still here."_

it was a small comfort. at least the piano never stopped.

\--

it was early april. yosuke had managed to keep himself together through a semester of school. he had friends now, too, though it was a little generous to call them that. there was chie, a bright and fierce spirit and honestly a little scary when angered (he'd have to try and not lose her CD again. that still hurt.)

there was yukiko, too, the definition of a japanese beauty, with long black hair, pale skin, a delicate frame and the most unflattering laugh. if not for the whole soulmate-business, yosuke would've been head over heels - and he wasn't ashamed to make that much clear to her. plus, it seemed she had already found her soulmate, anyway ...

("you know, yukiko, if it wasn't for all that soulmate stuff, maybe you and i could've --"

"in your dreams, yosuke!"

"snrk... ! chie, don't be mean...")

well, it was better than having nobody, he supposed. with the junes brand hanging over his head, people seemed determined to avoid him. he'd hardly talked to any of his friends from the city, either -- well, it was probably more accurate to say that he'd hardly _heard_ anything from them. as the days went on, their conversations petered off into more impersonal or noncommittal ones until they stopped altogether.

he always had the music, though. it'd become a highlight of his evening, really, one of the few things he had to look forward to.

(strange. he would've never thought himself a fan of that kind of music, anyway.)

on april 11th, he noticed something. the music seemed to be gradually getting louder. hell, he wanted to say it was even louder than before he moved.

there was no way. there was _no way_ his soulmate was coming to dinky little inaba - what kind of fortunate twist of fate was that?

for once, yosuke was thankful for how small inaba was. with any luck, he'd be able to find her! maybe he'd be on the job at junes, and she'd stroll into the food court, and the piano would move through this magnificent crescendo... it had his heart fluttering just thinking about it!

and, wait, hadn't chie been gossiping about how there was supposed to be this transfer student coming in? maybe, just maybe ...

he went to bed hopeful, lulled to sleep by a calming refrain.

\--

april 12th. the transfer student arrives. his name's yu narukami, and he sits right in front of yosuke.

he's a little strange, yosuke thinks -- definitely a city boy like him, no doubting that, but ... there's something else about him. he's definitely quiet, his face belying any emotion. plus, his hair is gray? it doesn't look bad, really, but... huh.

yosuke settles further into his seat, deciding he's had enough of analyzing the transfer student, and proceeds to tune out the rest of the lecture.

when he passes by him on his way out of school, his headphones snugly over his ears and blasting his favorite music, he doesn't catch him tense just the barest amount.

\--

april 13th. at least it wasn't raining. his bike was giving him some trouble - something about the tires, maybe. yesterday morning he had to literally pry himself out of a garbage can, which was a less than stellar experience.

the piano music seems a little louder when he steps out the door.

today, the ride is fine, only a few close calls so far. when making a turn, as fate would have it, he loses balance, overcorrects, and ends up colliding with the curb, flying over the handlebars and landing directly in a trash can _again_ with an undignified shout. _great - way to go, hanamura!_

he's still reeling from the pain of the impact and attempting to wiggle his way out of the literal garbage for the second day in a row, when a set of hands clamp onto his ankles, steady and firm, and yanks him out in one fell swoop.

he shakes his head and runs a hand through his hair a couple times, making sure nothing was caught in it, and then he looks up to offer his thanks --

\-- but the piano's so damn _loud_, it almost hurts, and his eyes meet a certain set of steel gray ones, and really, what's up with the fucking music? wait, that can't be right, he's --

yosuke's panicking as he glances around. the words die in his throat. there's definitely nobody else nearby, but that means ...

suddenly, the guy in front of him -- _yu_, he realizes with a start, pulls out his earbuds, shooting him a concerned look.

the music stops.

"are you alright?" he says in a low voice, smooth and gentle and _nice_ and christ, yosuke can't take this right now.

he extends a hand to help yosuke off the ground, earbud wire clutched in the other, and all yosuke can do is stare.

his mouth's set in a slight frown - worried, maybe, if he could see his eyebrows. there's something else in his expression that yosuke can't quite place, and --

god, he probably looks real fucking stupid right now.

yosuke blinks for a moment, and takes the hand offered to him, letting himself get pulled up to eye level with the transfer student.

"y-yeah, i'm fine! thanks." he stammers, surprised his voice worked at all. "oh, you're the transfer student, right? yu narukami."

"well, the name's yosuke hanamura! and this might be a weird question -" and it's out of his mouth before he can really think about it, "- but do you listen to piano music... ?"

yu blinks at that, probably more than a little surprised. it doesn't take long for the implications to set in. he opens his mouth to speak, but yosuke's already rambling again, face now a bright red.

"god, that was a stupid question, don't answer that. i'm still - i don't even really know, you're-"

"i do, in fact," yu answers, effectively silencing the other. a smile breaks across his face, and if yosuke didn't know any better he'd almost call it _smug_. "how did you know?"

"i -- ! well, i heard - _ugh_, no, i just - "

yu laughs, a hand moving up to cover his mouth. "it's alright, i'm just messing with you." his gaze softens, expression settling somewhere near content. "should we talk about this later, _soulmate_?"

it's not really a question, because yu is already walking away, leaving yosuke sputtering and trying to catch up to him.

honestly, he never even considered the possibility of his soulmate being a _guy_, but the more he thinks about it ...

yosuke catches yu's eyes again, and receives one of the softest smiles he's ever seen in return. it sends butterflies into his stomach immediately, and he has to quickly direct his gaze to the ground to hide his blush.

... this was alright. he could get used to it.

**Author's Note:**

> sorry for any mistakes i did this out of a sudden need to write at literally 10pm?? it's 2am now ???? 
> 
> edit: i just realized none of my markup transferred over so!! fixed some text that was supposed to be italicized 
> 
> anyway i love these boys. hope u enjoyed 
> 
> my twitter is @sakamotopng if u wanna yell with me abt them


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